Buddy Rush: Arena Season 9 Ends

Just a note to say that Arena Season 9 ended today. The rewards given were the same as those after Season 8, which were:
1-100 => Purple profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Fairies A)
101-200 => Red profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Fairies B)
201-500 => Blue profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Honor A)
501-1000 => Green profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Honor B)
1001-2000 => White profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Honor C)

It is no surprise that I received my usual same reward:

Wings of Honor A, what else?

The Accessory rewards for the top two Grades are expected to change next Season.

Buddy Rush: Contents

Robot Rising: Level 33 Bullet Skirmisher

Level 33 Bullet Skirmisher

I put together a Bullet Skirmisher build in Robot Rising. I got tired of running battles so here is a build that can stand still to shoot and take damage.

The Stats.

For the Chassis I chose the Firemark General, which has great HP and Defense.

Chassis

The main drawback of the Firemark General is the low capacity. That would hurt the amount of loot the robot can carry back from Complexes.

For the weapons, I had a variety of Ballistic ones:

Weapons

I was fortunate to loot the M33 Pt. Ellis and the M61d Hoffstein. The LDC Grenade from the M33 Pt. Ellis is very useful for prolonged combat against tough opponents while the Sabot AP Round from the M61d Hoffstein is good for taking out single targets.

If the two Rare weapons above could not be found, the M45 AZ Autogun may be used instead. The M45 AZ Autogun may be manufactured. Its Grenade Launcher Alt-Fire deals good damage to a small area and has a low cooldown. This makes it possible to throw grenades often, which is good because the M45 AZ Autogun has low direct-fire damage. Its direct-fire does have a long range, though.

A few M45 AZ Autoguns may be equipped instead for a Bullet Grenadier build that spams grenades.

I included the Iotech Starshot 3.2E8 for its Coolant Cloud Alt-Fire. This Alt-Fire is useful for Stunning targets around the robot should it be surrounded.

Mobility

I was fortunate to loot an IanION Pwr Walker. This Mobility may be manufactured but only up to level 25. A good Mobility is important to provide additional Capacity since the Firemark General has little of it.

Armor

The Firemark General has four slots for Armor, allowing lots of HP and Defense to be added.

CPUs

The Firemark General has only two slots for CPU. Defense can be neglected since it is available from the many pieces of Armor. Heat Dissipation too may be neglected since the Grenade Launcher Alt-Fire has low cooldown. That is, unless weapons with useful Alt-Fires are equiped.

Thus, CPUs should be chosen based on their Bonus Damage. And if they are Rare equipment.

Sensors

I usually have a Sensor that detects Enemy Targets so I can find them on the minimap. A Sensor that detects Drop Boxes ensures that I do not miss any.

Bonus Weapon Range would be good to extend the reach of the Weapons. Critical Chance works well with the high rate-of-fire of a few of the equipped weapons. Sadly, I do not have suitable Sensors with Critical Chance.

Alt-Fire Potency is useful if one is dependent on the Grenade Launcher Alt-Fire.

While I was researching for this article, I looted a Rare Armor:

Ceramix Armor

This Armor will boost the robot's high HP/Defense even more.

Here are screenshots of the robot:

Baddie go BOOM!

The high HP/Defense and low damage weapons mean that it is more likely that my robot will be next to exploding baddies.

Sometimes, robot has to clean out junk.

The Complexes were messy. No one had been cleaning for ages.

Grenade!

The Grenade is that tiny thing to the left.

After shooting from high ground.

The long range of a few of the weapons allow the robot to snipe.

Looted another Rare Armor.

The trouble with the Firemark General, as stated earlier, is the low Capacity for loot. After looting two Rare Armors, the robot was already incurring a 50% Speed penalty. And remember that the robot has to carry the Weight of its four pieces of Armor.

Buddy Rush: May 2013 Attendance Reward

There was a short delay with the reset of attendance this month so this month's Attendance Reward was a couple of days late. Anyway, the reward this month is a Magic Box.

20-day Attendance Reward

This has nothing to do with Wizz's Magic Box.

Magic Box in the Post Box.

The Magic Box gives Def +2%.

Stats of the Magic Box.

Now to find someone to wear it.

Botherella does not want a tongue over her head.

Botherella would rather wear her Magician's Hat.

Okay, next...

Betty Junior tries on the Magic Box.

The Magic Box matches the toy theme of Santa's Sack on Betty Junior's back. Betty Junior likes toys.

Maybe there are more toys in the shop.

Buddy Rush: Contents

Buddy Rush: Curse of the Owl

Here is something I found in the Mission 'Curse of the Owl', the last Mission in Chapter 12, Doppelia.

See, the battlefield was super-Stunned with a double set of stars on the left:

Battlefield has lots of stars.

Sometimes, Owl at the end of the Mission will just freeze and refuse to play.

"Owl, wake up and play~!"

The cause seems to be attacking, Stunning and/or interrupting him while he has doppelgangers summoned and he has some sort of wind shield up.

Maybe Botherella shouldn't stand so close to Owl while she has her Ghost Storm up.

So far, to avoid the problem, I would take the fight away from Owl and deal with the doppelgangers he summoned.

Is this far enough? Can't go further since I'm stuck in a net.

Once Owl starts directly attacking again, it is safe to go all out on him.

Update 31 August 2013:
I heard from disboima that Owl hangs if interrupted (by Wolfgang's bite, Vivich's Lotus Slap, etc.). I am not sure if it will happen if interrupted at anytime or only during certain parts of the fight (like when Owl has his wind shield up).

To be safe, I avoid using interrupts on him. Wolfgang usually and conveniently expires at the start of the fight with Owl so I do not Summon him again.

***

Owl properly defeated!

Do note that Owl does huge amounts of damage, comparable to that from Genzir the Storm. Unfortunately, it is not possible to bring a full Raid team to fight Owl.

Update 28 July 2013:
After trying so many, many times, I finally looted the following from this Mission:

Purple!

Here are it's stats:

Owl Glasses (purple!)

I wonder if there is a silver version.

Update 31 August 2013:
There is.
***

Buddy Rush: Contents

Strike Force Heroes 2 (shooter)

Strike Force Heroes 2

Strike Force Heroes 2 is a side-scrolling arena shooter. There are five types of Soldiers to choose from and train, each with his own set of Equipment and Abilities. The game takes place in an arena with the human player against AI opponents in order to achieve the game objective. The player may also have teammates.

Team Deathmatch in progress.

The Campaign is a good introduction to the gameplay features with a simple story and a demonstration of the gameplay modes. Aside from the Campaign, there is the Custom Game where the player may set the game parameters, including the game type, the points needed to win and the players. The Custom Game mode is very flexible, making it possible to customize games according to one's interest.

Settings for Custom Game.

There is also Challenge, which has matches with special conditions. For example, there is a Challenge where all players may summon Battle Turrets continuously.

Capture the Flag in progress.

Outside of combat, the player may manage his/her soldiers. Each Soldier gains experience by defeating opponents and completing game objectives. Other than that, the Soldier's equipment may be upgraded. There is no looting of equipment during the game. The only way to get equipment is from the Shop by using War Funds earned by defeating opponents.

There is a Slot Machine in the Shop for randomized loot fun. The Slot Machine may give Equipment of all kinds of quality (usually around the level of the Soldier), more War Funds or Junk. High-quality Junk is also a possible prize.

Buy better equipment at the Shop.

Each type of Soldier has his own Abilities and Killstreaks. Killstreaks are special abilities that may be activated once the player scores a certain number of kills without dying.

Finally, the appearance of each Soldier may be customized from the available selection and camos (textures), for vanity purposes.

Selecting Abilities.

In summary, Strike Force Heroes 2 is an excellent arena shooter with various Abilities and Equipment to try out and experiment with. There are also various game modes to play along with. And to motivate the player, there are Medals to collect for achieving certain goals.

Set the graphics quality low if the game plays slowly.

How to get the almighty Sheep Cannon.

Strike Force Heroes 2 Screenshots

Buddy Rush: Arena Season 8 Ends

Arena Season 8 ended today. The Arena rewards were the same as those after Season 7:
1-100 => Purple profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Fairies A)
101-200 => Red profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Fairies B)
201-500 => Blue profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Honor A)
501-1000 => Green profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Honor B)
1001-2000 => White profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Honor C)

I received my usual reward.

Why, it's another Wings of Honor A!

I had also received a couple of interesting loot during the Season:

Lord's Shoulder Armor (silver)

Silver equipment had been added to the Arena during the last mini-wave.

King's Flamberge (silver)

The silver equipment are pretty rare, though. The trick to get one seems to be not to look for one.

Buddy Rush: Contents

Strike Force Heroes 2 Screenshots

Here are a few screenshots from Strike Force Heroes 2, a side-scrolling arena shooter.

This is how the Game Breaker Medal is earned:

Tesla Coil meets Jyn's Consoles. :p

The best way to earn the Samurai Medal is through the Forum Defender Challenge:

Look at the HP!

Perfect Weapons usually have some Elemental effect:

Corrosive M32

A very deadly Secondary Weapon with good rate of fire, decent damage, ease to aim (since it bounces) and without the need to reload:

Flaming Throwing Knife

Slots may give Perfect weapons:

Corrosive M4A4

I got one of the deadliest weapons in the game by getting 3, er, poops, in the Slot:

Sheep Cannon

Special skins can be unlocked by using specific names for the character:

Special skin for Mike.

Names for the other skins can be found by observing the names of other players in custom games, or just reading the comments.

Update 17 May 2013:
Found another powerful weapon:

Imagine the General throwing Dooty. :p

It should be obvious where the weapon may be obtained from.

Update 18 May 2013:
Getting three SFH2 symbols at the Slot Machine is a Jackpot and they give a black screen:

Jackpot!

The Jackpot gave me twice the amount of War Funds it cost me and a Perfect Weapon:

The 'Perfect' Weapon.

Too bad the 'Perfect' Weapon was not suitable for the Sniper. The Weapon does not have a high range and the Sniper has low hit points.

Buddy Rush: Vivich's Skill Guide (1.8.2)

Jonathan sent screenshots and notes on Vivich's skill, enough for a guide. Note that I do not have Vivich so it is unlikely this article will be updated.

Jonathan's notes are in italics.

Lotus slap

Lotus Slap: I highly recommend maxing this skill. Although the range increase won't be visible by the skill animation, at level 7 you'll hit pretty much everything on the game's screen. It's very useful for SD-91's robot minions, as it also has an interrupt effect. If Botherella's Curse is active, Lotus Slap can hit as much as 100k if it gets a critical.

This skill is one of The Almighty Skills. Like the notes say, it does lots of damage to a large area. When Vivich vanishes while using Lotus Slap, she cannot be actively targeted for attacks and Skills. However, she may still be injured by area-effect Skills and attacks that have already been initiated.

Heal

Heal: Vivich's Heal heals four consecutive separate times. Don't let the description fool you; skill points do indeed affect the amount of regained HP points. With the build I have, each of the four heals usually gets about 2000-2500, which is more than enough considering there's four of them. Meditation also heavily affects Heal.

This skill is the reason people bring Vivich along on Missions and Raids: the ability to reduce the usage of consumables.

Sanctuary

Sanctuary: Although this skill is necessary and very helpful, the percentages for additional skill points don't justify investing a lot into it. Meditation already adds 35% healing effect to it if it's maxed. My Sanctuary heals around 2.5 times per second at 150 hp each heal. The only thing I've encountered that can kill buddies when Sanctuary is up is SD-91's fire rockets (if curse is up it is survivable) and Ivardark's purple jam (not sure if curse is affected by this).

Sanctuary is a good skill to reduce damage done to the party. This is important against baddies that do a lot of damage such as Genzir the Storm or SD-91.

Lotus Blossom

Lotus Blossom: What most don't know is that Lotus Blossom drastically increases not only the damage of the initial attack, but it has an AoE effect. If Botherella's curse is up, one Lotus Blossom hit (out of seven if it's maxed; they're consumed with each basic attack) hits for about 20k and has a volatile AoE spread of about 5-15k.

This is a reliable skill to have although it has a large MP requirement.

Meditation

Meditation: This skill is a necessity to max. If you look at the percentages from adding points into Heal and Sanctuary individually, it makes no sense to prioritize them over this skill (smaller skill point cost as well).

Like the notes say, this skill improves the healing effects of Heal and Sanctuary.

Cricket Training

Cricket Training: This skill is how Vivich's get such massive Attack and Defense bonuses. Max at all cost.

This single Passive Skill gives a large increase in both Att and Def.

Aum

Aum: I personally prefer to max this skill. It makes Vivich very helpful in long fights. If you equip Vivich with a lot of critical as I have (with refineries, my Vivich currently has a total of 17.2% in critical) Aum will almost always be active. Also consider the large AoE effects of Lotus Slap and Lotus Blossom; critical hits on these will also activate Aum.

I depend on Aum to do additional damage with my characters which are built to deal damage through skills. This Skill makes Vivich even more useful in Raids.

Thoughtful Mind

Thoughtful Mind: The one skill in which I have invested nothing. Just by taking a look at the bonuses from skill points added, you can see why. Skill points could be used much, much better elsewhere.

I depend on Jonathan's judgement concerning the effectiveness of this skill.

***

Here are Jonathan's recommendations for Vivich's equipment:

As for my Vivich's item build, I recommend Hammer of Genzir the Storm as it has critical, or as an alternative, Grandpa's Trident (PU), and also Ivardark's Apron as it also has critical. For the other four slots, I suggest a mixture of Att+Skill Power items such as Oblinium Fang and PU Lord's Hammer and items that offer MP regen.

And there's my wall of text for Vivich.

I think Critical is important for Vivich so that Aum activates. HP and Def are also important so that Vivich stays alive long enough to Heal.

Buddy Rush: Contents